Helical coil annular access plug and abandonment

ABSTRACT

A method for creating access to annular spacing during P&amp;A operations is described. Specifically, helical coils are cut into one or more casings before the plugging material is set. The plugging material is able to exit the helical coils, forming multiple, small rock-to-rock seals.

PRIOR RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Ser. No. 62/470,234, filed Mar.11, 2017 and incorporated by reference herein in its entirety for allpurposes.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH STATEMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention relates to methods, systems and devices for plug andabandonment operations to shut down a well or a portion thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

In oilfield jargon, “plug and abandon” or “P&A” refers to preparing awell to be closed permanently (or at least until prices or technologydevelopments warrant reentry). The decision to plug and abandon a wellor field is an economic decision. Once production value drops belowoperating expenses, it is time to consider abandonment, even ifconsiderable reserves remain. Thus, well abandonment is an inevitablestage in the lifespan of a well.

The earliest oil wells were abandoned without any plugging, and thefirst plugging requirements were enacted by Pennsylvania in the 1890s.Many wells were abandoned with plugs consisting of brush, wood, papersacks, linen or any other material that could be pushed into a well toform a basis for the dumping of one or two sacks of cement to “plug” thewell.

Current plugging procedures are significantly more disciplined due tomodern regulations. The P&A regulations vary among states and betweencountries, but all regulations prescribe the depth intervals that mustbe cemented, as well as the materials that are allowed in pluggingpractices. Most states require that cement plugs be placed and testedacross any open hydrocarbon-bearing formations, across all casing shoes,across freshwater aquifers, and perhaps several other areas near thesurface, including the top 20 to 50 feet [6 to 15 m] of the wellbore.Some countries also require that a “rock-to-rock” cement plug be setthat is contact with wellbore outside the casing if the casing is notisolated with cement.

In recognition of its strength, low permeability and low cost, cement istypically used to create a seal between formations or to seal off thesurface of the wellbore. Other materials that do not offer the samestrength or durability as cement, including drilling mud, gel, and clay,are used to fill in the spaces between cement plugs. Additionally, manystates allow the use of mechanical bridge plugs in lieu of a largecement plug since the bridge plug is extremely strong and nearlycompletely impermeable. However, mechanical plugs are susceptible tocorrosion and elastomer failure, and therefore the regulations typicallyrequire the bridge plugs to be capped by a specified amount of cement.

One of the main problems in any cementing procedure is contamination ofthe cement, leading to early failure. Poor mud-removal in the area wherethe cement is to be set can give rise to channels through the plugcaused by the drilling fluid. To avoid this, a spacer is often pumpedbefore and after the cement slurry to wash the hole and to segregate thedrilling fluid and the cement from each other. However, issues can stillarise.

Because cement is susceptible to early failure if contaminated bydrilling or other fluids, other materials have been investigated for useas plugging material. Resins offer superior adhesion, resistance to manycaustic and corrosive chemicals, excellent mechanical properties such aslow yield point and low viscosity in the unset state, and flexibilityand toughness after setting. Resin sealing materials include ThermaSet®by Wellcem AS, CannSeal® by AGR, and the WellLock® resin system byHalliburton. M&D Industries also makes resin plugging materials,including LIQUID BRIDGE PLUG® with a range of hardeners andaccelerators. The WellLock® resin, for example, uses cross-linkingbetween an amine hardener and epoxides, resulting in a curedthree-dimensional infinite polymer network, and can be deployed withoutnegative impact from exothermic reactions triggered by water.

New types of cement slurries consisting of geopolymeric materials havealso been developed as alternative to the conventional lightweightcement slurry. Geopolymers are made of aluminum and silicon and theyexhibit superior mechanical and chemical properties compared to theClass G cement. Geopolymers can provide a material with specificproperties from a range of cement/flyash/aluminiosilicate componentratios. This gives a light-weight slurry with high compressive andflexural strength thought to replace the conventional lightweightcements containing silica fume.

Sandaband is another cement alternative. It is a sand-slurry consistingof about three quarters sand particles and one quarter water and otheradditives, developed in Norway to meet the increasing demands of aneverlasting plugging material. Sandaband possesses the properties as aBingham fluid and acts as a deformable solid when it's stationary, butas a liquid when in motion. This ductile behavior means that the sandslurry will never fracture or create micro annuli. The sand slurry isalso incompressible and gas tight, and does not shrink, fracture orsegregate. It does however require a solid foundation, as it will sinkif placed on another fluid.

As noted above, many regulations now also required that the plug be setacross the entire borehole. As most wells have at least one casingstring or liner, access to the annular space to set the plug isproblematic.

Currently, operators have to remove sections of casing so that a plugmay be set that is continuous across the entire borehole in aconfiguration often referred to as “rock-to-rock,” and located in thecap rock above the reservoir. Because cement or other plugging materialmust go all the way to the formation wall, the typical procedure was topull the tubing, mill the casing, and remove swarf before spotting thecement (FIG. 1). However, this process may require multiple tripsdownhole and the tons of swarf that must be removed can accumulate inlow flow zones, and has razor sharp edges, being hazardous to both drillcrew and equipment. Plus, the method is expensive and time-consuming,and it has not been successfully applied to reservoirs with more thantwo strings.

One response to these challenges has been the introduction of a systemknown as perforate, wash and cement (PWC) in a single run. The PWCoperation is designed to access the formation through perforations inthe casing to place a rock-to-rock cement barrier without removing thecasing, thus saving valuable rig time. To use this system, the well mustbe secured, Christmas tree removed, tubing pulled, and then PWC job canbe done.

The PWC method uses a special tool by Archer, described inUS20150053405. The tool is made of pipe conveyed perforating gunsattached below a wash tool, which is below a cement stinger. Using PWC,ConocoPhillips completed 20 PWC plug installations in the North Sea,reducing the time required to set a permanent plug to 2.6 days from 10.5days using section milling. As a result, the company calculated asavings of 124 rig days over the course of the 20 PWC wells. Given thatrig time can easily be upwards of half a million dollars per day for anoffshore rig, even a few days less time required for P&A can meansignificant cost savings.

Although an improvement, the PWC method has limitations. To date, thePWC method has not been successfully applied through multiple casings.Furthermore, it is difficult to implement this method if the pipe hasdeformed such that the lengthy tool can no longer pass through thedeviated section. Another disadvantage of both the milling and PWCmethods is that the well must be secure and the tubing has to be pulledto implement these methods, which raises costs.

Thus, what is needed in the art are better methods, devices and systemsfor P&A that are safe, create a reliable barrier, that are costeffective, and both faster and easier to perform than current methods.Ideally, the new method would be performed through tubing, and couldprovide access to the annular space to allow for a “rock-to-rock” plug.An ideal system would also be applicable to wellbores with two or morecasings or strings.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure provides a novel method for P&A operations.Specifically, laser technology or an abrasive cutter is used to cuthelical coils in one or more tubulars to allow annular access to set aP&A plug. This helical coil pattern removes less metal from thewellbore, but gives complete 360° annular access to allow for placementof a “rock-to-rock” plug. The remaining steps in the P&A operations canbe performed as normal.

The method is a “through tubing” P&A because the tubing is left in placefor the operation. The cutter is able to cut through the tubing, inaddition to multiple casing strings. The cut tubing can then fall to thebottom of the well. However, other methods can be used to removing thetubing, including upward milling using coil tubing.

Once the tubing is removed, the cutter can cut the helical coils intothe casings. The helical coils allow complete access to the annularspace but reduce the amount of metal that is removed. This, in turn,reduces the amount of time and cost typically needed to carefully removethe metal. Further, by virtue of the helical shape and reduced metalremoval, the casing remains intact after the cutting. Otherconfigurations such as circular cuts would result in the casingcollapsing and falling downhole.

Once the strings are cut, plug and abandonment operations can proceed. Abase plug comprising cement or eutectic alloys or bismuth-based allowscan be introduced into the well. The plug material can be added to thetop of the base plug. This material can be any currently used materialsuch as resins, cement, alloys or combinations thereof. Further, theplug material will be able to exit the helical opens to form arock-to-rock plug. The plugs can also be drilled through for evaluationwithout affecting the material in the helical openings.

The benefits of using this technique to open up the annular space, overthose known in the art, are that all defects will be intersected by thehelical coils, less plugging material will be required because lessannular volume is open, and no vertical flow paths will be form. Unlikethe more common milling or PWC methods, no vertical flow paths will becreated and the coil cutting will not be able to create a vertical leakpath external to the casing. Both milling and PWC creates such paths.Further, this method is not limited by depth back from the casing.

Another benefit of the helical coil cutting is the creation of multipleopenings in the rock. When plugging material is added to the wellbore,it can escape the helical openings to form the rock-to-rock seals atdifferent depths. Thus, rotations in the coil allows for multiple “o”ring type seals in the annulus. Further, failure at one of these sealsdoes not mean that the next “o” seal will fail.

Any tool that is capable of cutting through tubing and multiple casingscan be used. Applicant has found that laser technology offers the bestability to cut through many layers and to form the tight helical coilsneeded to reduce metal debris and not create new vertical flow paths,although abrasive cutters can also be used.

Any type of plugging material can be used in the present method. Many ofthe commonly used cements and resins are described above. But, eutecticmetal alloys can also be used. For instance, a low melt alloy can set acast-in-place abandonment plug, that can then be combined withadditional cement or resin or geopolymer plug, according to regulationsand well dictates. Low melt alloys or fusible alloys are alloys with alow melt temperature and that can expand up to 3.32% when solidifyingfrom a liquid to a solid depending on the product. This expansion allowsthese alloys to precisely conform to any intricate details when molded.In a cast-in-place abandonment plug, the expansion means that the plugwill expand to firmly contact the reservoir walls, as well as any metalcasing or tubing, and provide a tight seal.

Bismuth alloys are a preferred cast-in-place abandonment plug materialbecause bismuth expands 1-3.32% on solidification. Bismuth also hasunusually low toxicity for a heavy metal. Furthermore, we have testedthese alloys and know that the liquid alloy does not mix with otherfluids, like cement does. Thus, the channeling common in cement plugs isavoided.

The ability to drop solid pellets to the plug location also allows foreasy placement of the alloy. Further, the liquid form of the alloy has aviscosity like water, thus easily penetrating and conforming to anyirregularities downhole. Finally, because of the expansion onsolidification, the alloy penetrates more than cement and bonds moretightly as well, yet the final plug is still ductile. The high qualityof the material and its bond allows a shorter length to be plugged, thuseven if cutting or milling are performed, the interval is much shorterthan typical, greatly saving on time and cost.

A low-melting point bismuth-containing alloy such as “Rose's metal”,“Kraft's alloy” or “Homberg's alloy”, or any other suitable bismuthalloy is used. Such alloys are unusual in that they have a higherdensity in liquid form than in their solid state and therefore expandupon solidification. Once deposited in a well they lose heat into thesurrounding environment, solidify, and expand to form a very secure plugwithin the well. Furthermore, there are commercially available tools andprototype tools are being developed that can heat bismuth alloy pelletsdownhole, thus allowing the use of these materials as cast-in-placeabandonment plugs, but with no nonmetal components that coulddeteriorate.

Bismuth alloys have been used downhole before. For example,US20130333890 describes the use of bismuth alloys as bridge plugs, thusallowing them to be melted when it is desired to remove the plug.However, the patent does not describe any P&A uses of the alloy, and theplug is not cast-in-place. Furthermore, the bridge plugs are typicallyof shorter length than the abandonment plugs that will be needed in theP&A operations.

US20100006289 describes plugging a well with a bismuth cast-in-placealloy. However, that patent describes the use of such cast-in-placeplugs within the casings, and does not provide for rock-to-rock pluggingmethods, as described herein. Furthermore, the alloy is melted beforedeployment, as opposed to being melted in-hole. The present methodswould require melting after deployment such that the metal is capable ofexiting the helical openings in the casing.

U.S. Ser. No. 62/402,796, filed Sep. 20, 2016, and incorporated hereinin its entirety for all purposes, also describes bismuth alloyabandonment plugs and methods of setting them. In some embodiments, thebismuth alloys are preferred due to their low melt temperatures, ease ofuse and robustness.

Further, combinations of the alloys, cements, and resins can be used toform a two-material plug. Preferably, at least one of the materials isalloy or resin.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that arefurther described below in the detailed description. This summary is notintended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subjectmatter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in limiting the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

As used herein, a “P&A” refers to plug and abandon. Regulations requirethat the plugs be of sufficient quality to be “permanent,” neverallowing formation fluids to leak. However, it is recognized that even apermanently plugged and abandoned well may be reopened at a later timefor various reasons. Therefore, “permanent” does not imply that the wellwill not be reopened, but instead refers to the quality of the plug—itneeding the potential to last permanently. That said, most plugsprobably won't last forever, and some degree of flexibility in meaningcan be accommodated by these terms of art.

“Tubular” or “tubing” can be used generically to refer any type ofoilfield pipe, such as drill pipe, drill collars, pup joints, casing,production tubing and pipeline. However, generally we have referred tothe inner tubing, such as injection tubing or production tubing astubulars herein. The outer one or more tubing sets, we have referred toas “casing” herein.

As used herein, a “cutter” is any downhole tube that can be used to cutcasing or tubing, which is typically done when a tool is stuck, in orderto retrieve the tubing string and send down fishing tools. There are anumber of different types of such tools, some of which are named herein.

As used herein, an “abrasive” or “jet” cutter is a type of cutter,generally run on wireline or coiled tubing, that uses a stream of fluidto cut the surrounding tubing or casing wall.

As used herein, “casing string” and “string” are used interchangeable torefer to a long section of connected oilfield pipe that is lowered intoa wellbore and cemented. Often, multiple strings of concentric casingsare used in a wellbore.

As used herein a “cement bond log” or “CBL” is a representation of theintegrity of the cement job, especially whether the cement (or resin ormetal) is adhering solidly to the outside of the casing. The log istypically obtained from one of a variety of sonic-type tools. The newerversions, called cement evaluation logs, along with their processingsoftware, can give detailed, 360-degree representations of the integrityof the cement job, whereas older versions may display a single linerepresenting the integrated integrity around the casing. In this case,the CBL is used to determine that a good connection between theabandonment plug and the formation walls.

A CBL can be generated with a “cement bond tool.” Cement bond toolsmeasure the bond between casing and the cement placed in the annulusbetween the casing and the wellbore. The measurement is made usingacoustic (sonic and ultrasonic) tools.

The use of the word “a” or “an” when used in conjunction with the term“comprising” in the claims or the specification means one or more thanone, unless the context dictates otherwise.

The term “about” means the stated value plus or minus the margin oferror of measurement or plus or minus 10% if no method of measurement isindicated.

The use of the term “or” in the claims is used to mean “and/or” unlessexplicitly indicated to refer to alternatives only or if thealternatives are mutually exclusive.

The terms “comprise”, “have”, “include” and “contain” (and theirvariants) are open-ended linking verbs and allow the addition of otherelements when used in a claim.

The phrase “consisting of” is closed, and excludes all additionalelements.

The phrase “consisting essentially of” excludes additional materialelements, but allows the inclusions of non-material elements that do notsubstantially change the nature of the invention.

The following abbreviations are used herein:

ABBREVIATION TERM P&A Plug and abandonment PWC Perforation/wash/cementCBL Cement bond log

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 (Prior art) provides a simple schematic of milled windows. Casingstrings of lower completions that are poorly cemented but cemented in amanner that renders them irretrievable (left panel) must be milled. Onetrip is required to mill the production casing (middle panel) and thenseparate trips are required for any intermediate casings (right panel)until all annuli and the formation are exposed. The milling debris(swarf) is removed, the hole cleaned, and then cement is run (notshown). This method allows the operator to cement each annulus accordingto permanent P&A requirements before e.g., drilling a sidetrack.

FIG. 2 An initial wellbore with a casing string and tubing before andafter the tubing is removed.

FIG. 3 Displays a wellbore after helical coils have been cut into thecasing.

FIG. 4 Displays the wellbore in FIG. 3 with a base plug.

FIG. 5 Displays wellbores with multiple casings after the helical coilis cut using a laser (left) or an abrasive cutter (right).

FIG. 6 Displays the wellbore in FIG. 4 with the addition of cement,resin or an alloy. In the case of the alloy, a heater has to be rundownhole to heat and melt the alloy.

FIG. 7 Shows the additional steps of adding more alloy material toensure that the helical coil openings are sealed.

FIG. 8 Shows the wellbore sealed with cement, resin or alloy plugs,including the multiple rock-to-rock seals formed from plugging materialexiting the coil openings.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention provides novel methods of accessing the annular space in awellbore before plug and abandonment operations. Basically, a laser orabrasive cutters are used to cut a helical coil out of the casing in thewellbore. Any cement or metal encountered during the cutting willfracture or splay due to moisture expansion and the resulting debriswill fall to the bottom of the well along with the cut tubing. Thisopens up 360-degree access to the annular space such that all defectpaths can be intersected and plugged.

The present methods includes any of the following embodiments in anycombination(s) of one or more thereof:

A method of plugging a hydrocarbon well, comprising:

a) deploying a cutting tool downhole to cut helical coils out of one ormore casings at said section of well to be plugged, wherein said helicalcoil openings provide access to the annular space external to theoutermost casing, wherein the resulting helical casing cuttings fall tothe bottom of the well;

b) deploying a base plug below and adjacent to said section of well tobe plugged;

c) deploying a plugging material into said section of well to beplugged, wherein said plugging material rests above said base plug andis able to squeezed out of said helical coil openings while filling saidsection of well to be plugged; and,

d) allowing said plugging material to set, wherein set plug forms aseries of rock-to-rock seals through the helical coil opening.

Any method herein described, wherein said cutting tool is a laser orabrasive cutter.

Any method herein described, wherein said plugging material is cement,resin, or a low-melt alloy.

Any method herein described, wherein said plugging material contains atleast two of cement, resin, or a low-melt alloy.

Any method herein described, wherein said low-melt alloy containsbismuth.

Any method herein described, wherein an inner tubing string was removedat said section of well to be plugged using said cutting tool beforesaid casing string was cut.

A through-tube method of plugging a hydrocarbon well, comprising:

a) deploying a first tool downhole to remove or to create an opening inan inner tubing string at a section of well to be plugged;

b) deploying a cutting tool downhole to cut helical coils in one or morecasings at said section of well to be plugged, wherein said helicalcoils openings provide access to the annular space external to the outermost casing, further wherein the resulting helical casing cuttings fallto the bottom of the well;

c) deploying a base plug below and adjacent to said section of well tobe plugged;

d) deploying a plugging material into said section of well to beplugged, wherein said plugging material rests above said base plug andis able to squeezed out of said helical coil openings while filling saidsection of well to be plugged; and,

e) allowing said plugging material to set, wherein set plug forms aseries of rock-to-rock seals through the coil open.

Any method herein described, wherein said first tool is a laser thatcreates an opening in the inner tubing string by cutting a helical coilinto the inner tubing string, or wherein said first tool mills the innertubing string to remove it.

A through-tube method of plugging a hydrocarbon well, comprising:

a) deploying a cutting tool containing a laser downhole to create anopening and remove an inner tubing string at a section of well to beplugged;

b) cutting helical coil openings in one or more casings at said sectionof well to be plugged using said laser, wherein resulting helical casingcuttings fall to the bottom of the well;

c) deploying a base plug below and adjacent to said section of well tobe plugged;

d) deploying a plugging material into said section of well to beplugged, wherein said plugging material rests above said base plug andis able to squeezed out of said helical coil openings while filling saidsection of well to be plugged; and,

e) allowing said plugging material to set, wherein set plug forms aseries of rock-to-rock seals through the coil open.

An improved method of plugging a well, wherein said method comprisingremoving tubing and casing, setting a base plug and a plug, saidimprovement comprises cutting a helical coil through said casing to makea resulting opening instead of removing the casing so that said pluggingmaterial can pass through said resulting opening to form a rock-to-rockseal above said base plug.

Any method herein described, wherein said cutting tool is a laser orabrasive cutter.

The present invention is exemplified with respect to the followingdescription regarding laser cutters. However, this is exemplary only,and the invention can be broadly applied to any type of abrasive cuttersand tubulars. The following examples are intended to be illustrativeonly, and not unduly limit the scope of the appended claims.

Access to the annular space is important during plugging operations tofully block all flow paths. One currently used method for accessing thisspace involves section milling where lengths of 30-100 meters of casingare removed. Such methods are costly due to the time needed to removethe casing and the extra care needed to remove the metal from thecasings. For instance, in a typical milling operation, the inner stringis removed by milling followed by removal of the next section, leadingto a large volume of material that has to be removed from the well.

In addition to being slow, milling suffers from high-level operationalissues and failures. Further, such milling creates vertical flow pathsfor flow from below that must also be sealed during P&A.

A second common method is a perforation/wash/cement (PWC) technique,which perforates the casing, washes the area behind the casing and thencements the space behind the casing. As with the technique above,vertical flow paths for flow from below are created and must also besealed during P&A. Further, to improve efficiency, larger perforationare needed. However, such perforations complicate the evaluation usingcement bonds log.

Neither of these common methods for opening up the annular space hasbeen successfully applied to wellbores with multiple casing strings.However, both methods create new vertical flow paths and generate alarge amount of waste material that must be dealt with and/or removed.

The presently described method was developed to not only allow forrock-to-rock plugs to be set by opening the annular space but to be usedwith multiple casings and with through tubing settings. Further, themethod does not generate new flow paths. Instead, it allows for thecreation of multiple “o” ring like rock-to-rock seals.

A wellbore in its initial state (1), complete with tubing (201) andcasing (202) is shown in FIG. 2. A cutting tool, typically a laser(left) or abrasive cutter (right), is used to cut tight helical coils(203) through the tubing (201), at a predetermined depth and for apredetermined length, to allow access to the casing (202). The debrisfrom both the cuttings and from the collapse of the cut tubing will fallto the bottom of the well (204).

Though a cutting tool is show in FIG. 2 to remove the tubing usinghelical coils, other methods can be used for this step, including upwardmilling using coil tubing.

Once the tubing is removed, the cutting tool can then be used to cuthelical coils in the casing(s). The cutting tool should be able to cutthrough multiple casings in a single run. Lasers are the preferred meansfor cutting the coils because they are robust, capable of making tightor loose coils, and can cut through many layers of metal. However,abrasive cutters can also be used.

FIG. 3 shows a wellbore with helical coil cuttings in one casing. Thisis exemplary only and FIG. 5 displays coil cut into three casing stringswith a laser (left) and an abrasive cutter (right). Note, the casingremains intact after being cut by the cutting tool. The cuttings,however, are capable of falling down the well, much like the tubingdebris.

As shown in FIGS. 3-5, the helical coil cuttings allow access to theannular space outside the casings. The coils are exaggerated to showthat they will touch the rock outside the casings.

Once the annular space is open, plugging operations can begin. The firststep is the placement of a base plug to seal the casing, as shown inFIG. 4. The base plug can be made of any material normally used, such ascement resins or bismuth alloys.

Alternatively, thermite material can be placed in the casing and reactedto melt the debris from the tubing and casing cuttings. In thisembodiment, a heat resistant base plate composed of ceramic material canbe placed in the wellbore before the tubing or casing coils are removedto collect them for melting, but also to protect any material below theplug location from the thermite reaction. Even if the heat resistantbase plate does not provide a perfect seal, the use of low melt bismuthalloys in the thermite will quickly seal that base plug as the moltenalloy front penetrates any gaps, and then cools and hardens. Anyimperfections will thus quickly be sealed.

Once the base plug is set, the plug material can be introduced. FIG. 6shows how resin can be placed with coil tubing (5), cement can be placedwith coil tubing (6), or how a low melt alloy being placed using awireline tool (7) and a heater being run into the well to melt the alloy(8). FIG. 7 shows additionally alloy being added to the plug and heatedin order to form a plug longer than the helical cutting.

Regardless of the material being used, the material will flow out of thecasing through the helical openings, creating multiple small,rock-to-rock seals. Larger plug seal failures propagate through theentire plug, thus rendering it useless. Here, the benefit of these manysmall seals is that one or more of the seals can fail without affectingthe others.

FIG. 8 displays plugs for resin (11), cement (12) and alloy (13). Thoughshown as single-material plugs, the plugs can also be created using twoor more materials. Ideally at least one of the materials is resin oralloy.

After the plugs are set, they can undergo normal evaluation, includingbeing drilled through for logging or cement bond logging. Also, becausethe helical cuttings does not affect the type of plugging material used,any known additives can be added to aid in logging and evaluation. Forinstance, if resin is used as the plugging material, it can be dopedwith a low activity tracer that can be used for logging techniques.

Though the methods have been exemplified using single casing wellboresand only cement, resin or alloy plugging materials, the invention can bebroadly applied to wellbores with multiple casing strings and anyplugging material.

The advantages of the described helical cutting technique to open accessto the wellbore allow for rock-to-rock plugs to be formed are:

All defects paths will be intersected and the cuttings cover 360 degreesin each complete coil.

Flow paths vertically are not created. Generally there exists someisolation vertically in the annulus, however, the “coil” does not createa vertical leak path externally, unlike milling and PWC.

The cuttings create multiple “O” ring type seals in the annulus. Bothresin and alloys, particularly bismuth-based alloys, ideal material toform these seals. Cement can also be used.

Creates multiple annular seals so that failure of one seal does not meannext seal will fail.

Can create seal back into the formation depending on depth of cut intothe rock wall. Both milling sections and PWC have limited depth backfrom casing.

Material requirements for forming the plug are less as annular volume isreduced because of the amount of casing still left after the helicalcuttings.

Multiple string wells can have access to the annular space.

The process utilizes Through Tubing P&A, which reduces the cost comparedto rig-based P&A.

Tubulars remain in place and will not fall. If a circular cuts wereformed in the tubulars, they would likely fall into the wellbore.

The helical coil design reduces the amount of metal that has to beremoved by the cutting tool and is less metal than that removed bysection milling. Reduced metal removal facilitations better evaluationsusing current bond log (CBL) technology.

Limits operating time with a laser because failures are reduced and lessfluids are introduced into the system.

The following references are incorporated by reference in theirentirety.

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U.S. Pat. No. 6,828,531 Oil and gas well alloy squeezing method andapparatus

U.S. Pat. No. 6,923,263 Well sealing method and apparatus

1) A method of plugging a hydrocarbon well, comprising: a) deploying acutting tool downhole to cut helical coils openings out of one or morecasings at said section of well to be plugged, wherein said helical coilopenings provide access to the annular space external to the outermostcasing, wherein the resulting helical casing cuttings fall to the bottomof the well; b) deploying a base plug below and adjacent to said sectionof well to be plugged; c) deploying a plugging material into saidsection of well to be plugged, wherein said plugging material restsabove said base plug and is able to squeezed out of said helical coilopenings while filling said section of well to be plugged; and, d)allowing said plugging material to set, wherein set plug forms a seriesof rock-to-rock seals through the helical coil opening. 2) The method ofclaim 1), wherein said cutting tool is a laser or abrasive cutter. 3)The method of claim 1), wherein said plugging material is cement, resin,or a low-melt alloy. 4) The method of claim 1), wherein said pluggingmaterial contains at least two of separately deployed plugs of cement,resin, or a low-melt alloy. 5) The method of claim 3) wherein saidlow-melt alloy contains bismuth. 6) The method of claim 1), wherein aninner tubing string was removed at said section of well to be pluggedusing a cutting tool before said casing string was cut. 7) Athrough-tube method of plugging a hydrocarbon well, comprising: a)deploying a first tool downhole to remove or to create an opening in aninner tubing string at a section of well to be plugged; b) deploying acutting tool downhole to cut helical coil openings in one or morecasings at said section of well to be plugged, wherein said helicalcoils openings provide access to the annular space external to the outermost casing, further wherein the resulting helical casing cuttings fallto the bottom of the well; c) deploying a base plug below and adjacentto said section of well to be plugged; d) deploying a plugging materialinto said section of well to be plugged, wherein said plugging materialrests above said base plug and is able to squeezed out of said helicalcoil openings while filling said section of well to be plugged; and, e)allowing said plugging material to set, wherein set plug forms a seriesof rock-to-rock seals through the coil open. 8) The method of claim 1),wherein said cutting tool is a laser or abrasive cutter. 9) The methodof claim 1), wherein said plugging material is cement, resin, or alow-melt alloy. 10) The method of claim 1), wherein said pluggingmaterial contains at least two of cement, resin, or a low-melt alloy.11) The method of claim 9) wherein said low-melt alloy contains bismuth.12) The method of claim 1), wherein said first tool is a laser thatcreates an opening in the inner tubing string by cutting a helical coilinto the inner tubing string. 13) The method of claim 1), wherein saidfirst tool mills the inner tubing string to remove it. 14)A through-tubemethod of plugging a hydrocarbon well, comprising: a) deploying a lasercutting tool downhole to remove an inner tubing string at a section ofwell to be plugged; b) laser cutting helical coil openings in one ormore casings at said section of well to be plugged, wherein resultinghelical casing cuttings fall to the bottom of the well; c) deploying abase plug below and adjacent to said section of well to be plugged; d)deploying a plugging material into said section of well to be plugged,wherein said plugging material rests above said base plug and is able tosqueezed out of said helical coil openings while filling said section ofwell to be plugged; and, e) allowing said plugging material to set,wherein set plug forms a series of rock-to-rock seals through the coilopen. 15) The method of claim 14), wherein said plugging material iscement, resin, or a low-melt alloy. 16) The method of claim 14), whereinsaid plugging material contains at least two of cement, resin, or alow-melt alloy. 17) An improved method of plugging a well, wherein saidmethod comprising removing tubing and casing, setting a base plug and aplug, said improvement comprises cutting a helical coil through saidcasing to make a resulting helical coil opening instead of removing thecasing so that said plugging material can pass through said resultinghelical coil opening to form a rock-to-rock seal above said base plug.18) The method of claim 17), wherein said cutting tool is a laser orabrasive cutter. 19) The method of claim 17), wherein said pluggingmaterial is cement, resin, or a low-melt alloy. 20) The method of claim17), wherein said plugging material contains at least two of cement,resin, or a low-melt alloy.